Whenever I read articles such as this one in today's Gleaner as penned by the present JFLAG Programs Manager it just shows up the lack of understanding the lay of the land and the real deal when it comes to the murder music campaigns and the categories of artists who were and are specifically tracked and targeted. Why hasn't the older advocates assisted the newbies to understand the issues? and to think JFLAG penned the tersely worded press release in response to Queen Ifrica's Independence Day rant with the very first sentence and indeed paragraph setting the tone for what was to come where it read prior to its editing on their website
"J-FLAG notes with profound disappointment the anti-gay animus expressed by Queen Ifrica at the Grand Gala on August 6, 2013. Her sentiment is an example of the unabated divisiveness we continue to allow to take prominence on the national stage. Queen Ifrica’s remark is similar to the vitriolic sentiments which came from Tony Rebel at the celebrations last year and should have never been allowed again.
We are surprised this happened on the day the Prime Minister urged us, in her Independence Day Message, to accord respect to people so every Jamaican can feel a sense of belonging in our society.
It is regrettable that the government has not been able to guarantee non-discriminatory performances from artistes for such a high-profile function as the Grand Gala. We encourage the government to follow the example of reggae and dancehall promoters and their sponsors who consistently draft contracts proscribing penalties for the use of indecent language, discriminatory rhetoric, and incitement to violence. Independence celebrations showcase the best of Jamaica’s indigenous artistic and cultural expressions, and are held to a high standard from their inception.
As the nation passes the 50 year mark and enters a new epoch of its history, we must zealously work to protect the dignity of all Jamaicans without any distinction. We have all pledged to play our part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race. These words are especially poignant in such a celebratory period of our nationhood. We are therefore compelled to reflect on these and other patriotic words of commitment found in our National Anthem and Pledge.
Jamaica cannot become the place of choice to live and raise families unless respect and dignity can be given to the entire Jamaican family. As we celebrate Jamaica’s 51st year of independence we must also celebrate the importance of peace, democracy, justice, and equality for the continuation of our prosperity as a nation."
We are surprised this happened on the day the Prime Minister urged us, in her Independence Day Message, to accord respect to people so every Jamaican can feel a sense of belonging in our society.
It is regrettable that the government has not been able to guarantee non-discriminatory performances from artistes for such a high-profile function as the Grand Gala. We encourage the government to follow the example of reggae and dancehall promoters and their sponsors who consistently draft contracts proscribing penalties for the use of indecent language, discriminatory rhetoric, and incitement to violence. Independence celebrations showcase the best of Jamaica’s indigenous artistic and cultural expressions, and are held to a high standard from their inception.
As the nation passes the 50 year mark and enters a new epoch of its history, we must zealously work to protect the dignity of all Jamaicans without any distinction. We have all pledged to play our part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race. These words are especially poignant in such a celebratory period of our nationhood. We are therefore compelled to reflect on these and other patriotic words of commitment found in our National Anthem and Pledge.
Jamaica cannot become the place of choice to live and raise families unless respect and dignity can be given to the entire Jamaican family. As we celebrate Jamaica’s 51st year of independence we must also celebrate the importance of peace, democracy, justice, and equality for the continuation of our prosperity as a nation."
ENDS
The redone release now reads as follows
We are surprised this happened on the day the Prime Minister urged us, in her Independence Day Message, to accord respect to people so every Jamaican can feel a sense of belonging in our society.
It is regrettable that the government has not been able to guarantee non-discriminatory performances from artistes for such a high-profile function as the Grand Gala. We encourage the government to follow the example of reggae and dancehall promoters and their sponsors who consistently draft contracts proscribing penalties for the use of indecent language, discriminatory rhetoric, and incitement to violence. Independence celebrations showcase the best of Jamaica’s indigenous artistic and cultural expressions, and are held to a high standard from their inception.
As the nation passes the 50 year mark and enters a new epoch of its history, we must zealously work to protect the dignity of all Jamaicans without any distinction. We have all pledged to play our part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race. These words are especially poignant in such a celebratory period of our nationhood. We are therefore compelled to reflect on these and other patriotic words of commitment found in our National Anthem and Pledge.
Jamaica cannot become the place of choice to live and raise families unless respect and dignity can be given to the entire Jamaican family. As we celebrate Jamaica’s 51st year of independence we must also celebrate the importance of peace, democracy, justice, and equality for the continuation of our prosperity as a nation.
ENDS
Then came the ill fated nationwide radio interview with Tony Rebel (Independence Day infraction 2012), Queen Ifrica and none other than the person of Dane Lewis the ED of JFLAG who ended up mum as to the use of the words " "vitriloic" and on some "anti gay animus" note when u go to the link you will see the edited release without the words that caused Tony Rebel especially to ridicule Mr Lewis live on air and forcing him to capitulate in a sense that has left the local as well as foreign LGBT persons up in arms, Mr Lewis could not answer a direct question asked of him by Rebel on the vitriolic description then it is no wonder why this JAGLA group came from nowhere to tackle Queen Ifrica themselves although I would have much preferred she be allowed to attend the show she was booked and commit the infraction on foreign soil as was done with other acts such as Sizzle during my time when I was involved in the SMM campaign locally. I fear JFLAG now finds itself having to defer to the calls of the populations and cannot continue to be impervious to them, one wonders if such deferring will also take place with the homeless? Obviously this one was poorly handled and they allowed ownership of the struggle to shift to not only Ifrica, Tony Rebel but also more and more disgruntled LGBT folks who are questioning the stewardship of the goodly J.
Reggae and dancehall are our brand; they're in our vein and culture. It helps in retaining dominant and widely held beliefs, norms and practices and influencing how we interact with each other.
Around 1992, when Buju Banton released Boom Bye Bye, Jamaica seemingly embarked on a trajectory where it gained international notoriety for its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. With so many songs - apparently there are at least 200 from as early as the 1970s - it wasn't very difficult for people (foreigners?) to believe Jamaica was, indeed, the 'murder music' capital and 'most homophobic place' on earth.
Many Jamaicans are strongly opposed to these descriptions, but the number of mob attacks, murders, abuse and other forms of harassment betray efforts to contest this characterisation. There has been noted progress over the years, but anti-gay attitudes remain commonplace. The brutal murder of 16-year-old Dwayne Jones reminds us that much more needs to be done to protect the rights of LGBT people.
It is unlikely to not hear speakers belting songs endorsing anti-gay attitudes at any event. That's the Jamaica I grew up in. That's what I heard on the bus to and from school every morning and evening and that's still the reality of many Jamaicans.
Nuff artistes like Queen Ifrica still a sing seh dem 'doh waan nuh fish inna [dem] ital dish'. This 'ital dish' is the reason Queen Ifrica has been criticised by concerned Jamaicans, some of whom are human-rights defenders; and the reason why her performance at Rastafest in Toronto was cancelled.
LGBT rights activists have seemingly walked into the trap of Shirley Richards, the former president of Lawyers' Christian Fellowship (LCF), that LGBT rights are part of an agenda to silence Christian values. Richards has been craftily (mis)using some cases where people were sanctioned for disrespecting the codes and practices of their employers. To Richards, these employees were just exercising their freedom of speech and conscience.
RESPONSIBILITY
The truth is, freedom comes with responsibilities. It isn't a licence to spew disparaging remarks about people. Furthermore, there are limitations to freedoms, and people will protest when they feel you are (mis)using your freedom to (directly or indirectly) cause harm. That's what the group of gay and lesbian Jamaicans abroad, JAGLA, did when it successfully got the organisers of Rastafest to cancel Queen Ifrica's performance.
Only time will tell whether or not JAGLA's actions will 'teach' Ifrica a lesson, mute her, or make her more respectful of the rights of LGBT people. I am anxious that this might only make her angry and cause Jamaicans to resign in their fears about gay rights and people's freedoms.
There is a fair bit of information available, such as the activist reflection on fighting 'murder music' by Colin Robinson and Akim Ade Larcher (2009), which is instructive for our analysis of what ensued recently (seehttp://sta.uwi.edu/crgs/november2009/journals/akimadelarcher.pdf). Their experiences and views are noteworthy.
At the end of the day, I am sure Queen Ifrica, as do most Jamaicans, still believes music doesn't influence our behaviour. For many, it's really just a song - it's metaphorical. Furthermore, Jamaicans do not understand activist-speak and, as a consequence, it is difficult to comprehend why saying 'no fish roun' here' is problematic.
Dr Marcia Forbes' book Media, Music and Adolescent Sexuality in Jamaica is a good case study for music and behaviour. That is why, while I am not suggesting JAGLA did not engage Ifrica, dialogue outside of polarised spaces is so important in all of this.
Noted Jamaican scholars have opined that songs such as Buju's Boom Bye Bye and TOK's Chi-chi Man are merely lyrics and not an incitement to harm any person. Arguably, this is valid, but one cannot ignore how music contributes to mainstreaming and perpetuating anti-gay attitudes and the application of these songs by Jamaicans. After all, we easily recite lyrics and Bible verses when we mete out punishment to LGBT people.
All of us are somehow complicit. No single group can be held responsible for the anti-gay attitudes replete across Jamaica. We believe that saying 'no fish inna mi ital dish' is OK as long as it didn't explicitly 'encourage' violence. That's a big problem with our culture. It's one of the reasons we ignore students bullying their peers until there is blood.Not so long ago, we shunned (through our music) people who engage in oral sex - that's now a thing of the past. I sincerely hope we can say that about 'murder music'. As Tanya Stephens said (in an interview with me in 2010), "It wouldn't hurt artistes to stop spreading messages of hate in their music."
Jaevion Nelson is a youth development, HIV and human rights advocate. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and jaevion@gmail.com.
ENDS
While Ifrica's words may not be out rightly inciteful given the temperature of the nation (just listen to talk radio) the slightest "push" can lead and have led to ghastly consequences, whenever the agitation becomes more pronounced and precise and public there is always a spike in homo-negative cases and challenges. Just take the cases in the last month or so that have made news post the Dwayne Jones matter and the We are Jamaicans Campaign that is interpreted in some circles as an imposition of foreign lifestyles with big money behind it. How do groups and advocates then expect most virtuous messages as tolerance (even though erroneously demanded) resonate with the ever hardened public and especially since the ifrica mishap? Early songs in the reggae genre dealt with anti gay sentiments via a biblical perspective even though voiced by Rastafarians in the form of King Sounds & The Israelites - Spend One Night inna Babylon (1978) one of the earliest homo-negative tracks in the dancehall era however was Chuckle Berry's "No Gay Man" in 1991 then his follow up "Made(ly) in Love where he frankly said he does not rub-a-dub with men. Simpleton's "See it Deh" came in 1993 that pushed the unnaturalness as it were of male homosexuality. Then in the late nineties came Capleton's Shot Him Up, Pure Sodom, Ready When You Ready and Bun Out a Chi Chi.
The infectious kumina/revival genre sounding dancehall track done by Wickerman - Gurlz Dem Gungo Walk was released in 2001 revived the short quiet period as Buju Banton's Boom Bye Bye still reigned supreme while Beenieman was to add his voice to the long line of acts both popular and unknown with "All Battyman Fi Dead". Not to be outdone is Sizzla who was one of the first acts to be engaged during the early years of the SMM where at first attempts were made to persuade artists no to perform the offending tracks using moral sway via the promoters and influentials but that didn't work and by the time we looked tricks were used on stage to sneak in materials such as a live band striking chords of the offending song that is known verbatim by the audience who willing sing them while the artist remains mute on stage then claims they never performed them directly. Thus the campaign's strategy was changed to what it became and taking on a life of its own by the more astute overseas allies who continued the work.
Strategy is everything and each artist has to be engaged differently and not grouped as caustic as the more fervent five. Overseas allies be they local or foreigners need to take the lead from the ground before going on frolics of their own, now we are left with a new layer to penetrate in the national pysche that being the oppressed becoming the oppressor.
Peace and tolerance
H
also see:
August 26, 2013
Nationwide radio's Emily Crooks during her What's On My Mind segment of her show gave her two cents alongside Naomi Francis co-host, I am total agreement with her, JAGLA over reached in this case:
Nationwide radio's Emily Crooks during her What's On My Mind segment of her show gave her two cents alongside Naomi Francis co-host, I am total agreement with her, JAGLA over reached in this case:
suggested reading: CLICK HERE
Peace and tolerance
H
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